MONTREAL — Canadian National last week improved its contract offer to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which represents engineers and conductors in Canada.
The railway said it offered the union better wages, more job security, and guaranteed earnings during talks held April 10-12.
Both CN and Canadian Pacific Kansas City have proposed abolishing the traditional mileage-based pay system for train and engine crews and replacing it with an hourly wage. Both railways also say they want to create predictable work schedules for train crews, including scheduled days off, that would meet tighter Transport Canada Duty and Rest Period Rules that went into effect last year.
CN last week boosted its proposed hourly pay by $5 per hour. It also offered employees hired before ratification of the contract guaranteed employment with no risk of a layoff. The railway also said it would protect the earnings of employees who currently earn more that what they’d earn under the proposed hourly agreement.
Full details are available online.
A TCRC spokesman did not respond to an email seeking comment on CN’s latest proposals.
Union members are currently voting on a proposal to authorize a strike against CN and CPKC. If the rank and file vote to authorize a strike, the earliest a walkout or lockout could occur on CN and CPKC in Canada is May 22.
After being unable to reach agreements during negotiations that began last fall, labor and management since March 1 have been negotiating with the help of federal conciliators. Also still negotiating: CPKC rail traffic controllers who are represented by TCRC in Canada.
The TCRC says the CN and CPKC hourly rate proposals would mean a pay cut for half of their membership, strip away “every quality of life provision attained through years of fighting,” and make seniority redundant by eliminating the distinction between road and yard crews.
The union also says that the railways aim to strip collective agreements of what it calls “safety-critical rest provisions.”
The railroads have called the union claims inaccurate.
